<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced this Wednesday, during his official visit to Beirut, a Spanish contribution of ten million euros to help the Lebanese Army to ensure stability in the south of the country, when the ceasefire agreed on November 27 by Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah is about to end.</strong></h4> Albares made this announcement after meeting with the new president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, and with the president of the Parliament of this country, Nabih Berri, within the framework of a new tour of the Middle East that will conclude on Thursday in Syria. “In my meeting with the new president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, I have conveyed to him Spain's support for his priorities of political stability, reconstruction and security,” declared Albares through social networks. The election of the current head of the Army, General Joseph Aoun, as President of the Republic, which took place last week, put an end to more than two years of a vacuum in the Lebanese head of state due to a lack of consensus between the different political blocs. Albares is the first European minister received by Aoun in Beirut. “I have met with the President of Parliament, Nabih Berri, to whom I have conveyed Spain's support for the progress in the formation of the new government, and the commitment to peace, stability and prosperity in Lebanon,” the minister added in another message. Last Monday, the Spanish Government welcomed the progress in the formation of the new Government of Lebanon and congratulated Nawaf Salam on his appointment as Prime Minister. Speaking to the press from the Presidential Palace, Albares announced that Spain will “support the Lebanese armed forces with ten million euros” so that they are in a position to guarantee “sovereignty, security and territorial integrity” and because “their work is fundamental for the territorial integrity of Lebanon and the Middle East.” The ten million euro aid, which will be delivered through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be used, above all, to buy solar panels to meet the needs of the Lebanese Army in the new phase that the country is facing, and to pay salary supplements for soldiers, many of whom have not been paid for months due to the bankruptcy of the Lebanese State. This contribution, according to Albares, will also help the Lebanese troops “to deploy in the south of the country and for the ceasefire to go beyond 26 January and be permanent.” Specifically, they will help the Army to return to the area between the south of the Litani River and the border with Israel, until now controlled by Hezbollah, and to rebuild the civil infrastructure bombed by Israeli troops between September and December 2024. “Lebanon and the Lebanese people have the right to a peaceful future and Spain supports this. Israeli troops must withdraw completely,” continued Albares, who urged Israel to comply with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. “All points of the ceasefire must be fulfilled,” he warned. “When this sixty-day period expires, the ceasefire must be permanent and there must be a withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to their bombings” in Lebanon, he added. Apart from this aid, the minister announced that Spanish Cooperation will increase aid to humanitarian projects in Lebanon in 2025, up to twenty million euros. This is a 10 million euro aid that will be added to the 10.6 million euros that Spain contributed last year for cooperation projects, within the framework of a total package of 30 million euros over three years. During his meeting with the president, according to Albares, Aoun asked for more help “for security in Lebanon and for Israeli citizens on the other side of the demarcation line”, but “no request has been received to increase the Spanish troops in UNIFIL”. “UNIFIL plays a central role and Spain contributes almost 700 troops”, he recalled. Albares then held a meeting with Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro, commander-in-chief of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), with whom he discussed “the situation on the ground in southern Lebanon” and to whom he conveyed Spain's support “for the work of UNIFIL and recognition of the Spanish contingent.” They also discussed Spain's support for the redeployment of the Lebanese Army in the south of the country and the role that the UN mission can play in this new stage. <div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"> <span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Albares was later received by Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate, Nawaf Salam, whom he wished “success in the contacts for the formation of a government.”</span></span> <span class="jCAhz"><span class="ryNqvb">“Spain is committed to the political stability, security and prosperity of Lebanon,” the minister declared on social media.</span></span></span> </div> <div> <div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">The day included meetings with the acting Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, with whom he discussed bilateral relations between Spain and Lebanon and the situation in the region and to whom he reiterated Spain's support for the stability, security and prosperity of Lebanon, and with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, with whom he also spoke about bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East and to whom he assured that Spain will continue to support UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces to guarantee the security and stability of the country and the region.</span></span></span> <div class="OvtS8d"></div> <div id="ow30"><strong style="color: #212121; font-size: 1.1em;">Syria</strong></div> </div> </div> This Thursday, Albares will travel to Damascus, where he will meet with the new Syrian authorities, including the country's new “strongman,” Ahmed al Shara, leader of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and of the rebel offensive that put an end to Bashar al Assad's regime. During this meeting - the fourth European foreign minister to visit Damascus since the change of regime, after those of Germany, France and Italy - Albares will show Spain's willingness to help Damascus on condition that the "red lines" are met: that the rights of women and all ethnic and religious minorities are respected, that the territorial integrity of the country is maintained and that there is no foreign interference (in reference to Iran, which militarily supported Al Assad), according to the Europa Press agency. If these conditions are met, Albares assured, Spain would be willing to support a partial lifting of European sanctions on Syria. Germany, France, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands have already proposed a certain lifting of economic, financial and energy sanctions on Damascus, an issue that will be addressed next Monday by the EU Foreign Affairs Council and that could be the prelude to the entry of Spanish investments in Syria.
